Moses J Gatewood
MilitaryThe site is now the location of a road sweeping company. I discovered these in one of their storage buildings. 397th Bomb Group collection
I hope the photos will be of interest, especially to the families of the pilots. I took these photos while working on the site last year and was amazed the the murals still survive.
Gatewood was a US military academy graduate, class of January 1943. Assigned to 9th air force, 397th bomb group, 597th squadron as aircraft commander of a b-26 martin marauder medium bomber named 'Holy Moses'. While flying another aircraft, the 'Mama Liz', he was shot down on 24 June 1944 over the west suburbs of Paris supporting Operation Overlord. Escaped to Spain via French underground and returned to base in England with a new code system forwarded by French operatives for communicating with the French resistance. Later recommended for a silver star for this 2 month extended mission. Remainder of crew were captured and remained POWs till end of war.
Connections
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Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Ninth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Aircraft
- Aircraft Type: B-26 Marauder
- Nicknames: Holy Moses
- Unit: 397th Bomb Group 599th Bomb Squadron
Places
- Site type: Airfield
Revisions
Biography at B-26.com
AAM Website upload UPL 36305 where Gatewood has signed his name & aircraft on the wall at Rivenhall